


Like a Bolt out of the Blue

by Inevitablefannegirl



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Emmie FitzSimmons - OC, Ethan FitzSimmons - OC, F/M, FitzSimmons Babies, FitzSimmons Twins, FitzSimmons adopt a dog, Pershire Cottage, Skye FitzSimmons-OC, fitzsimmons family, this is complete fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 00:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11589306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inevitablefannegirl/pseuds/Inevitablefannegirl
Summary: When Jemma decides it's time for their family to adopt a dog, it takes more than a little convincing to get Fitz on board. But, in the end, a new puppy could be just what their family needs.





	Like a Bolt out of the Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Disney's "When You Wish Upon A Star"

They’re lying in bed one night when Jemma decides to bring it up. Fitz was scrolling through his tablet, reading over a report that Coulson had sent over, while Jemma was idly flipping through the latest edition of _Nature_.

“Fitz, I think we should get a dog.”

Fitz chuckled absentmindedly from beside her on the bed, his eyes still scanning his tablet. When she realized that he thought she was kidding, she turned her head to look over at him, a frown creasing her forehead.

Fitz noticed her staring at him and turned to look back at her.

“Are you being serious?” he asked incredulously.

“I’m being completely serious, Fitz.” Jemma responded, an eyeroll accompanying her exasperation at her husband. “I think it’s time.”

Fitz sighed, “But dogs are just _so_ much work, Jemma. Are you sure we’re ready for that?”

“Exactly. I’m not ready for it, you’re not ready for it. But, I really think that the twins are. Think about it, Emmie and Ethan are seven years old. It’s time that they learn the responsibility that comes with raising a pet.”

“Yeah, they are old enough to take it seriously. But what about Skye?” Fitz responded back to her. “She’s only three years old. She won’t understand all the work that comes with a dog. Plus, then we’ll have a three-year-old and a dog running around the house. It’ll be mad.”

“Skye may only be three now and, odds are, she won’t remember everything about taking care of a pet, but Fitz, she’ll grow up with the memory of being able to love a pet. Don’t you want our children to experience the joy and love that comes with growing up around a dog? Just think, looking back on their childhood, they will remember playing with it and feeding it and teaching it tricks. It will make them so happy.” Jemma accompanied her final argument with the look in her eyes that she knew Fitz couldn’t resist. Pair that with mentioning the happiness of his children and she knew that when Fitz released a long sigh and looked over at her, she had him.

“Oh, alright. Let’s look for a dog” said Fitz as Jemma beamed back at him. “I’m not saying adopt one right away, but maybe, let’s just entertain the idea for a bit? Okay?”

Jemma leaned towards him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Oh Fitz, I just know this is going to be a great idea!”

“Mmm’kay. I hope you’re right.”

“Of course... After all, I’m always right.” Jemma winked at him and went back to leafing through the journal. Fitz released another long sigh and went back to reading Coulson’s report. Whatever happened next, he could blame it on Jemma. After all, she knew that he couldn’t say no to her when she smiled at him like that.

\--

The next week, Jemma spent hours looking through pet adoption websites. She’s always excelled at preparation and adopting a dog was no different. She read reviews of the different pet adoption agencies. She read mom blogs about the best kind of dog to have around small children and tips on how to help your children learn the most from caring for a pet. She looked up various breeds, age behaviors, and male vs. female differences until she had enough knowledge that she could have probably taught a class on owning a dog at the university in Glasgow. After all, she was a biologist.

When she was certain what type of dog she was looking for and had scoped out the pet adoption fair that’s taking place at the local pet store in Perthshire the next afternoon, she gave the news to her children that night at dinner.

Emmie just about burst her ear drums with her squeals as she danced around the table shouting, “I’ve _always_ wanted a dog, Mummy!!” (Even though, Jemma had only heard her mention it maybe once or twice before.)

Ethan was quieter about the whole thing (as was usually the case) but Jemma could tell that he was just as excited as his twin sister. He sat quietly at the table, but Jemma could see the exciting idea of having a dog dawning on his features.

Skye just took in the reactions of her siblings with wide eyes, asking questions like, “Is the doggy going to sleep in my bed?” and “Is the doggy going to eat at our table?” in her sweet little voice. Jemma was quick to assure her that no, the doggy will be sleeping in the laundry room downstairs and it will be eating all of its meals in there too. Still, Skye wrinkled her brow and seemed to be unsure of the whole idea. But, after watching the excited reactions of her sister and brother, she seemed to get caught up in the fun as well.

Fitz just watched the varied reactions from his children, chuckling to himself. Fitz was fairly certain that Jemma had bitten off more than she could chew with this. Three kids and throwing a dog into the already hectic mix. But, then he remembered that his wife was Jemma Simmons (well, Jemma FitzSimmons now) and he had seen her take on way, way more than a busy household.

“Jemma, before Emmie renders us all deaf, why don’t you tell them just exactly what kind of a dog we will be looking for tomorrow,” Fitz laughed- Emmie’s squeals still echoing through the kitchen.

“Oh, yes!” Jemma exclaimed as the children watched her with wide, excited eyes. “Mummy has done a lot of research about what kind of dog we should get. And based on that, we are going to look to adopt a female dog that’s about 3 or 4 years old and isn’t very big so that she can stay in the house.”

“Yay!! Another girl in the house!” Emmie responded, starting up her little jig around the table again.

Ethan seemed to consider this for a moment, but then smiled as he said, “Yeah, a girl dog is good because me and Dad are the men of the house, right Dad?”

Fitz smiled back at his son. “That’s exactly right, buddy.”

Skye just shoved another spoonful of pasta into her mouth and said between bites, “Can we name her Elsa?”

“No, Skye.” Emmie retorted. “We can’t name her after a Disney movie.” Emmie over-exaggerated an eye roll, causing Fitz to think to himself that she’s maybe been watching her mother a little too closely.

“We will _all_ agree on a name once we adopt her, okay?” Jemma said. “And remember, tomorrow we are just going to look, alright? If we don’t see the right dog for us, then we can always go back another time.”

The kids all nodded in agreement and went back to their dinners, excitedly talking about the potential of adopting a dog the next day. Jemma met Fitz’s eyes across the table and gave him her best _I told you so_ smile. Fitz just grinned and shook his head. Of course, he loved seeing his children- and his wife for that matter- so happy. But, was Jemma really sure that this was the best idea?

\--

By noon the next day, the FitzSimmons family had made a complete circle around all of the different dogs. A handful of the dogs there fit Jemma’s criteria for the perfect, adoptable dog. But, there was just something about all the dogs that they had seen that just didn’t feel quite right. She could tell Fitz agreed with her as each dog they’ve come to, he sent her a look that said it wasn’t the right one.

The kids hadn’t fallen in love with one either. And Jemma was hoping that when they found _the dog_ that they were supposed to have, they would all know. But, so far, that feeling hadn’t come. And after stopping to pet several mid-age female dogs, that weren’t too big or too small, the kids were getting tired. Fitz had picked up Skye and had her riding on top of his shoulders, with her leaning forward to rest her chin on her chubby little hands that were on the top of his head, the time between her blinks getting longer as the afternoon wore on.

“Jemma, I just don’t understand why none of these dogs feel like the one, you know?”

Jemma sighed, “I feel the same way. But, Fitz, there really is only one explanation.” Jemma waited a bit, Fitz sending a glare in her direction because he knew exactly what’s coming. “It’s the curse.”

“Ugh, I said that one time!” Fitz griped back at her exasperatedly.

Jemma just rolled her eyes and was about to say that they should call it a day- after all, there would probably be another adoption fair in a couple of weeks and this would give them even more time to prepare for a dog (and even more time for her to get Fitz completely on board with the idea). She felt bad because there were a lot of dogs there, but she just didn’t think that _the_ dog  was there. She knew that the kids would be disappointed, but the idea of going to get some lunch at their favorite place in town would heighten their spirits before heading home.

“Well, let’s say we go get some lunch and come back in a couple weeks to look at the dogs again. I’m sure we’ll find the right one next time.”

“Okay,” the twins responded in unison, disappointment lacing their words.

“Hey, we’ll find a good one. In the meantime, how does some ice cream after lunch sound?” Fitz asked, anything to get his melancholy children smiling again.

This seemed to perk them up a bit as they nodded in agreement and turned away from the adoption fair.

As they made their way over to the car, Emmie spotted a tiny, tan puppy being held by a woman standing on the edge of the grassy area where the adoption fair was set up.

“Mum, Dad,” Emmie pointed over to where the woman was standing with the puppy. “Can we go pet the puppy?”

Jemma exchanged a glance with Fitz. “Yeah, sure, it couldn’t hurt,” Fitz responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

Emmie and Ethan led the way over to the small dog in the arms of the smiling woman, as Jemma and Fitz (with Skye nodding off on his shoulders) followed closely behind.

The woman smiled at them as they approached. “Would you like to meet this little guy?” she asked.

Emmie and Ethan nodded and reached out their hands to stroke the tiny puppy’s fur.

“He’s so cute!” Emmie said, grinning as she ran her hand over his small back.

“Feel how soft he is,” said Ethan.

Jemma looked at the sweet, sleepy puppy and her heart just melted at the sight of him. “Aww, isn’t he precious, Fitz?” Jemma pet the puppy, his little pink tongue coming out as he yawned.

“Yeah, he is a nice looking little guy. Hey Skye,” Fitz whispered, shifting the sleepy little girl down from his shoulders so that she could look at the puppy. “You wanna pet the puppy?”

Skye blinked a couple times sleepily, her face lighting up as she registered the tiny dog in front of her. “Puppy!” she squealed.

They all took turns stroking the little puppy’s fur, laughing as he began to perk up a bit more in the woman’s arms. He started wagging his tiny tail at the twins, whose faces lit up in delight.

After just enough time had passed that Jemma was beginning to get worried that they had over-stayed their welcome, Jemma placed her hands gently on the twins’ shoulders. “Thank you so much for letting us pet your puppy. He sure is adorable.”

She was about to guide the children to the car when the woman’s words stopped her in her tracks. “Oh! He’s not mine, he’s up for adoption just like all of the other dogs. He was just getting tired so I thought I would come over and see if he could get a quick nap in before the next crowd comes.”

At the mention of the potential-adoption of the puppy, the twins turned their eyes to Jemma, questioning smiles growing on their faces. Jemma hesitated and looked over to where Fitz was still helping Skye to gently pet the quickly-awakening puppy. Fitz’s face was filled with so much love as he watched his daughter’s eyes light up in wonder at the small puppy. Jemma caught his eyes and in one moment, out of the blue, she knew. _This_ was the dog for them.

“So,” Jemma asked the woman, as she could feel the growing excitement radiating from her children behind her. “Where do we sign the paperwork?”

\--

The car ride home mainly consisted of the twins passing the puppy back and forth so that each one of them could have a turn with the puppy in their lap. It became so much of an issue that Jemma had to keep track using the clock on the car radio as to who’s turn it was. Five minutes for Emmie- Five minutes for Ethan. Jemma hoped that by the time they reached home in thirty minutes they would have each had enough “puppy time” to be satisfied for a little while.

It was in between one of the passes of the puppy – _“Mum, it’s my turn!” “Ethan, no it’s not; It’s still my turn.” “Actually Emmie, it’s been five minutes so, yes, it is Ethan’s turn.”_ – that Jemma suddenly realized they forgot one very important thing.

“Hey! We need to come up a with a name for the puppy.” As a chorus of voices rang out from the back seat, Jemma quickly tacked on, “That we _all_ agree on.”

Skye was the first to shout out, “Nemo!”

“Skye, Nemo is the name of a fish, not a dog. That’s not a good idea.” Emmie retorted back.

“Now remember,” interrupted Fitz, “In our house, there are no bad ideas. Only good ones, right?”

“Right, Dad…” Emmie responded reluctantly.

In the beat of silence that followed, Skye threw out another name, “Bolt!

This time, Emmie responded sweetly to her sister, “Skye, that is a really good idea.” She paused, to shoot a glance to Fitz in the rearview mirror, where he nodded back at her approvingly. “But, maybe we shouldn’t name the puppy after a Disney movie.” She paused another second, deep in thought. “I know! Let’s name the puppy after the S.H.I.E.L.D. team! Like, maybe, Mack or Phil.”

“Emmie, since your middle name is May after Agent May and Skye is named after Aunt Daisy, I don’t know if Uncle Mack or Coulson would appreciate it quite as much if we gave our dog their namesake.”

“Yeah, good point, Jemma.” Fitz responded under his breath, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

“You’re right, Mum.” Emmie agreed. “But, I can’t think of any other names. Ethan, what do you think?”

Ethan had been quiet during the whole exchange thus far. Jemma knew her son was just like his father, he kept to himself when he was thinking, but his ideas and solutions usually turned out to be extraordinary. Jemma glanced behind her at Ethan, watching as he stroked the puppy on his lap, forehead creased in concentration.

“Hmmm… I know! Let’s name him after a scientist.” Ethan responded after a few moments. “And, since he’s a boy dog, let’s name him after an engineer like Dad!”

“Oooh, good idea, Ethan!” Emmie grinned at her brother.

“Yes, that is a good idea, Ethan.” Jemma turned slightly in her seat so that she could face Fitz. “So, Mr. Engineer, got any good ideas of engineers’ we can name our dog after?”

“Ummmm, yeah, I mean, there are lots.” Fitz responded hesitantly, quickly wracking his brain for a suitable name. “There’s Newton.”

“Ummmm, no.” the other (very-opinionated) passengers replied.

“He doesn’t look like a Newton to me, Daddy,” said Emmie.

“Okay, well then, what about DaVinci?”

“No.”

“Joule?”

“Nope.”

“Watt?”

“Definitely not.”

“What about Tesla?”

At first, Fitz’s suggestion was only met with silence. But, then a chorus of agreement filled the car.

“Fitz, I think Tesla is the perfect name,” said Jemma.

“Yeah, Dad, I like Tesla.”

“Me too!”

“Okay,” said Fitz. “Skye, what do you think? Do you want to name the puppy Tesla?”

“Yeah! I want the puppy to be named Tesla! But, can his middle name be Bolt? The doggy should have a Disney name somewhere.”

Fitz chuckled. “Sure, why not.”

“It’s quite fitting if you think about it,” responded Jemma with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Fitz smiled back at Jemma, as the kids started excitedly cooing over Tesla, trying out his new name.

“Hey, welcome to the family, Tesla Bolt FitzSimmons!” Emmie sing-songed, while cuddling the puppy up against her chest.

Fitz and Jemma just laughed. Maybe, Fitz thought, Jemma had been right all along.

\--

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent getting Tesla acclimated to his new home. Jemma helped the twins give him a bath in the laundry room sink, while Fitz worked on putting his crate together. Freshly cleaned, the twins ran Tesla around the backyard, laughing as the small puppy kept tripping up on his feet. Once the twins became tired of running around, they showed Skye how to throw the little tennis ball that they had bought for Tesla. Skye giggled delightedly any time Tesla missed catching the ball in his mouth, which happened quite frequently because of Skye’s three-year-old aim.

By dinner time, Tesla was worn out and curled up on the little dog bed while the family ate. Then, while Jemma and Fitz cleaned up the dinner dishes, the kids played with the puppy in the family room- determined to wear him out once again before going to bed for the night.

When Tesla started showing signs that he was tired, Fitz let him out for one last time. Then, while Fitz took the kids up to start getting them ready for bed, Jemma got Tesla set up on his little doggy bed in the crate in the laundry room. All the books she had read had stressed the importance of the puppy’s first night, showing him that this was where he would be sleeping and not leaving any room for confusion. Jemma turned off the lights downstairs, leaving a small light on in the laundry room. After giving him one last stroke on the head, she closed the door of the crate, just as Tesla plopped down on the bed, his little eyes already closing. _There_ , Jemma thought to herself, _that wasn’t hard at all_.

Once Jemma had crept upstairs, Fitz met her in the hallway. His eyes were wide as he questioned, “Is he asleep already?”

“Yep, he went down without a fuss. Fitz, we got lucky. I think we just adopted the world’s best behaved puppy.” Fitz chuckled and gave her a look that said _Don’t jinx it, Jemma_ as Jemma responded with an eye-roll.

Together, Fitz and Jemma helped the kids get ready for bed, reading them stories before tucking them in for the night.

By the time, they were getting ready for bed, Tesla had kept quiet the entire night. As Jemma brushed her teeth, she called to Fitz through the bedroom, “Honestly, Fitz. That dog has been so well-behaved. I haven’t heard a peep from him all night long.”

“Yeah, well, there is still plenty of time for him to make a racket,” Fitz grumbled back.

“Oh, come on, Fitz. Admit it. This was an amazing decision.” Jemma goaded, coming into the bedroom and climbing into the bed beside Fitz.

“I’ll admit that _so far_ it seems to be working out pretty good. But, I’ll refrain from completely admitting that you were right until Tesla gets through the night.”

“Okay, I’ll accept that. Good night.” Jemma kissed Fitz softly on the lip and settled down beneath the covers.

“Night, Jemma,” Fitz responded as he turned off the bedside lamp.

As the minutes passed, Fitz’s breathing evened out, a sure sign that he was asleep. Suddenly, Jemma heard a very distinct whine pierce through the silent cottage. At first, she convinced herself that she had imagined it. After all, Fitz had almost dared Tesla to make a noise after what he had said about him not lasting through the night. But then, Jemma heard another- much louder- whine travel upstairs from the laundry room.

Sighing, Jemma nudged Fitz awake with her foot. “Fitz, Fitz. Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Fitz mumbled, half-asleep.

“I think it’s Tesla. Listen.”

Jemma was met with a beat of silence. Then, Fitz shifted to face her on his side, his eyes still tightly closed. “I’m sure he will stop soon.”

“Fitz—“ Jemma nudged him again with her toes. “What if he wakes up the kids?”

Again, silence from Fitz- the only noise coming from the increasingly loud whines downstairs.

Jemma started to flip the covers back. “I’ll just go down and check on him.”

“No…” Fitz grumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and stumbling up and out of the bed. “I’ll go.”

“Thank you.” Jemma smiled at him through the darkened bedroom. If there was one thing she knew, it was that no matter what, even if he was half-asleep, Fitz would do anything he could to show her how much he loved her. And, she did her best to do the same- but, she really didn’t want to go downstairs in the middle of the night.

After several minutes passed with no sign of Fitz returning, Jemma started to get worried. Irrationally so, but after everything they had been through, Jemma could get slightly panicked if she expected Fitz back and he had yet to make an appearance.

Throwing the sheets back, Jemma tiptoed out of bed and down the stairs, careful not to make too much noise as she passed the children’s rooms.

When she emerged to the darkened downstairs, she began to make her way to the back door, expecting to see Fitz still outside with Tesla. But, she stopped in her tracks as she passed through the family room. There, sprawled out on the sofa, was Fitz with Telsa asleep on his stomach. Fitz had fallen asleep again, his mouth slightly open. At the sight of her husband with the sleeping puppy on his chest, Jemma’s heart swelled with so much love for Fitz that she didn’t think she could hold it all in. Every day, she found new ways in which she loved this incredible man that she got to spend her life with and share her home with. He was an amazing life-partner and father. Even when he had grumbled and complained about bringing a dog into their home, he had done it for the sake of his children’s and his wife’s happiness. After everything that had happened to them while a part of S.H.I.E.L.D., she was so extremely thankful that she and Fitz had made it through it all- together and hand-in-hand.

Jemma approached Fitz on the sofa and softly ran her fingers through his curls. As he came back to wakefulness, he blinked up at her a couple of times before a small smile formed on his lips.

“Hey, sorry- I thought that maybe Tesla was feeling lonely, so I thought I could be with him as he fell back to sleep. And, I remembered how when the kids were babies they always loved to fall asleep on my chest, so we ended up here. I guess I fell asleep, too,” Fitz explained as he grinned sheepishly, sitting up while trying not to disturb the sleeping puppy.

Jemma didn’t respond and instead leaned forward to kiss Fitz. When she pulled away, she held his face in between her hands and looked into his eyes. “I love you, Fitz. More and more every day- Even though I’m positive each day that I couldn’t possibly love you more.”

“I love you too, Jemma. So very much- even when you convince me to adopt a dog.” Fitz kissed her once more and then made a move to get up. “You go back on up, I’ll get Tesla settled again and be right back.”

“How about we bring him up to our bed? It will just be for tonight.” Jemma said as she grabbed Fitz’s hand and began to pull him back towards the stairs.

“Okay, but,” Fitz grinned, following Jemma upstairs with Tesla in tow. “Jemma, I think-for the first time in a very long time- you may be wrong about this one.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear what you think! You can find me on Tumblr as inevitablefan-ne-girl.


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